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ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - When Ramon Ortiz throws a pitch in the first inning of Fridays game in Boston, he will become the oldest player (39 years and 352 days) to start a game for the Blue Jays since Dave Stieb (41 years, 55 days) on September 15, 1998. Its not how general manager Alex Anthoupolos drew it up. The rotation was supposed to be a strength coming in to the season, but injuries to Josh Johnson, J.A. Happ and Brandon Morrow mean Ortiz will take the ball at Fenway Park. "I think any time you lose members of your rotation, you can never replace those guys otherwise those guys would be in the rotation to begin with," said Anthopoulos. "You know youre not the first team to go through it, you know youre not going to go through a season using five starters, thats just reality." Compounding matters is the plight of Ricky Romero, who stood at his locker after Wednesday nights disastrous start and insisted he belonged in the major leagues. The Blue Jays clearly dont agree, having optioned the left-hander to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday morning. Romero, working through a mechanical overhaul of his delivery, had but one minor league start prior to his recall last Friday. While the outing for class-A Dunedin was effective, it seemed unreasonable to expect Romero to perform at a high level so soon. In the wake of the Johnson arm injury was Romero recalled too soon? "Hindsight is 20-20, I dont know if we would have brought him up two weeks later, three weeks later, would this have occurred," said Anthopoulos. You look at other players, weve had Travis Snider go down and I know he doesnt pitch, but weve had position players go down for months, come back and have to go back down again. Sometimes it takes time." "Its easy to say now, but under the circumstances, I know Danes been working with him hard," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "The reports have been great – even the side sessions, bullpens, simulated games, extended games, Dunedin. Looking back, I guess thats easy to say from the outside but I know the reports that Dane had and the people that have seen him down there were all very positive. I can see why. I see some good results in what hes done, but they just didnt translate on the field." So Romero will pitch for Buffalo, for an unspecified amount of time, under the tutelage of Bisons pitching coach Bob Stanley. Roving pitching instructor Dane Johnson, whos worked with Romero since March, will continue to consult but is expected to be less hands-on. The rotation for the series at Fenway Park is expected to be Ortiz on Friday, Mark Buehrle on Saturday and Morrow on Sunday, health permitting. Then comes an unusual scheduling quirk. The Jays have Monday off and play a two-game series against the Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday before another off day on Thursday. The club will be able to work a four-man starting rotation until May 21, the next time a fifth starter will be needed. Its unlikely Johnson, whos just started playing catch as he works through triceps inflammation, would be ready to pitch by then. In fact, the Blue Jays have pegged the 21st as the day of Johnsons first minor league rehab start. In the meantime, J.A. Happ is expected to need four to six weeks of recovery time after suffering a skull fracture and sprained right knee when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Tuesday night. DOWN ON THE FARM Right-hander Roberto Osuna, 18, one of the Blue Jays top pitching prospects may be headed for Tommy John Surgery. Osuna, who has pitching for class-A Lansing, left his last start with discomfort in his elbow. "He went and got examined by Dr. Andrews and right now they said just to give him a few days and start playing catch," said Anthopoulos. "Hes going to throw to 60-feet (on Friday.) Right now its basically rest and rehab. But there is a scenario if he does have a flare up again in the next few weeks that ultimately he may need Tommy John." Marcus Stroman, 22, is eligible to be reinstated from a 50-game drug-related suspension on May 19. Anthopoulos says Stroman, who the Blue Jays took with the 22nd overall pick in last Junes draft, was topping out at 96-mph on his fastball in an extended spring training start earlier this week. Expect Stroman to be assigned to Double-A New Hampshire when his suspension ends.Sam Howard Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Bill Madlock Jersey . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/1292e-roberto-clemente-jersey-pirates.html . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Adam Frazier Jersey . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Ryan Vogelsong Jersey . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast.ATLANTA -- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was borderline disgusted after watching his team commit nine turnovers in the first quarter.It didnt take long for Budenholzer to get the results he wanted as Atlanta had just seven turnovers over the last three periods.Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 20 points, Kent Bazemore added 17 and the Hawks won their fourth straight game with a 117-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.It was like were handing them the ball and theyre going and scoring, Budenholzer said. Credit our guys to kind of flip that and just still play with great ball movement and great confidence and reduce the turnovers.Dwight Howard, the NBAs active leader in double-doubles, had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks.Jahlil Okafor finished with 18 points for the Sixers, who dropped to 1-8 a night after earning their first win.Despite playing with a depleted roster, Philadelphia was within two with 3:50 left in the third. But Howards follow dunk gave the Hawks an 84-74 lead and Kyle Korvers 3-pointer on the ensuing possession matched the 10-point advantage in the closing minutes of the period.Hardaway hit 3s on consecutive possessions midway through the fourth to give Atlanta a 14-point lead. Dennis Schroders corner 3 made it 108-89 with 3:17 remaining.Schroder finished with 16 points and Korver had 14.We really just couldnt hold on, Sixers coach Brett Brown said. We have to do whatever we do by committee and we just didnt do that. They historically have been a hard matchup for us.The injury-marred Sixers were without center Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jerryd Bayless and Nerlens Noel.Okafor, who had offseason knee surgery and played just three minutes Friday, was on a 24-minute limit. Embiid was sitting out the second night of the back-to-back.Philadelphia dropped to 1-45 in October and November dating to Nov. 22, 2013. The Sixers have dropped 19 straight on the road.The Hawks took their first double-digit lead on Bazemores 3 in the closing seconds beefore halftime.ddddddddddddOn the turnovers, they were able to get some easy baskets, Korver said. Its been a problem for us all year. Its something we have to clean up. Coach Bud wants us to play free and to make things happen. He doesnt want to take that away, but we have to be better, and thats what he tells us.Sergio Rodriguez had 13 points for Philadelphia. Dario Saric and Nik Stauskas each added 12. Robert Covington scored all of his 11 points in the third.We made the run that allowed us to get back in the game, Covington said. We have to sustain that. I know were short-handed but thats part of the situation well be in.TIP-INS76ers: Embiid had 25 points in Fridays overtime win over Indiana, but the 7-foot, 275-pound center isnt playing both nights of back-to-back games in his rookie season after the No. 3 overall pick in 2014 had to sit out two years with right foot injuries.Hawks: Atlanta began the night ranked second in field-goal percentage, third in assists, first in turnovers forced, second in points off turnovers and seventh in rebounding. ... They ranked 24th in rebounding last season, but the presence of Howard, the NBAs active leader in career rebounds, has paid off in his first Hawks season.ITS NOT EASYBudenholzer and Brown both took charge of their teams in 2013 after spending nine seasons together as San Antonio assistants.Budenholzer feels for Brown, whose teams have struggled with a staggering number of high-profile injuries.I genuinely marvel at him to be honest with you, Budenholzer said. What he does I dont think many people could do.Budenholzer is 153-102 with the Hawks with three playoff appearances. Brown is 48-207 and has the most losses in Sixers history.STAR TIMEActors Jason Bateman and model Jasmine Sanders had front-row seats at center court.UP NEXTSixers: Visit Houston on Monday.Hawks: Visit Miami on Tuesday. ' ' '